From Within
by TSTMsoldier
Summary: A rash of suicides hit the small community of Grovetown, causing fear and panic among local residents. As those around 18-year-old Kagome continue to die gruesomely, she begins to distrust everyone and she suspects that she will become the next victim.
1. Extended Summary

In Grovetown, a small Maryland town, there is a series of suicides after the suicide of an outcast teenager Onigumo. These suicides seem to stem from a curse which spreads when any person, who witnesses the suicide, is possessed by an unseen evil force which leads them to commit suicide themselves. His brother Naraku waits for the return of his cousin Muso to the family house for the funeral. When Inuyasha, who is the fanatic Christian son of the reverend, beats up on Naraku, the undesirable youngster is helped by Inuyasha's girlfriend Kagome, A young teenager thinks there is a connection of the events to Naraku, that drives him home. They talk about Naraku's mother that had a Grimoire to worship her pagan gods in a creek and was blamed by the god-fearing locals of murdering a man; then she died in a suspicious fire. Kagome and Naraku befriend each other and sooner she finds that Onigumo has cursed the town with his own sacrifice unleashing an evil force that is leading the inhabitants to commit suicide. When Kagome is chased by her evil image, she must race against the clock when she witnesses her mother fall victim, and must try to find a way to stop the curse before it kills her too. Naraku decides to help her to stop the curse; but the price to be paid is high. Meanwhile the God-fearing townspeople, led by a fanatic preacher with a connection to the events also, form a vigilante group to take the law in their own hands.


	2. It's Coming

It's Coming

**SATURDAY**

"Grovetown. Population, four-hundred and thirteen people. This is a small town in Maryland where the people here could be considered, religious fanatics. The morale of the town's people could be questioned. They liked to hand out snap judgments and had tendencies to be hypocritical and full of shit, yet they consider themselves holy and, members of "God's Army." Let's see how far that get's them. Their churches tyrannical reign of power of the townspeople will soon come to an end and they brought it on themselves." A man's voice came from the dark as he chuckled knowing the fate of the tiny town of Grovetown.

A young couple is sitting on a hill watching the sun rise; they'd been out all night doing you can only imagine. They were both dressed in black jeans with black band shirts and black converse. I guess they, embraced their inner outcast, seeing as how they were the only people in this small town who dressed this way. The young man pulls out a black book and begins to read the text in a foreign language. As he finishes reading, he leans over and kisses his girlfriend passionately. She gets into it believing that they are going to have sex until he pulls away from the kiss and reveals a gun.

"Onigumo. What's with the gun? You know I don't like guns, so, why don't you just put it away?" The fearful girl spoke with a shaky voice.

"I'm sorry Kikyo. I have to do this." And with that, Onigumo put the gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger. His blood spewed everywhere, a large portion of it landing on Kikyo. The woman let out a deafening scream, stood up and took off running towards the town.

Back in the main town, a dowdy school girl, Kagome, is shopping with her shopping with her alcoholic step-mother, Kagura. She was standing in front of a mirror, holding up a dress in front of her. She lowered the dress revealing the blue jeans and plaid shirt that she was wearing and a pair of black converse. Her hair was in a loose, side pony with a few strands hanging down the opposite side of her head. She wasn't wearing a lot of makeup. She didn't need to. All she was wearing was some light purple eye shadow, mascara and vanilla chopstick.

"Do you ever notice how your reflection looks better than you really do?" Kagome asked herself more than anyone else, starring deeply into her chocolate eyes.

"What? " Kagura asked her. Kagura was wearing a simple sundress. It was white with a light colored floral print and a pair of white flats. Her hair was just hanging down. She didn't feel like doing anything with it that morning.

"I mean, it looks just like you, only better, somehow… Different, in some way…." She trailed off, getting lost in her thoughts.

"Come on Kagome! Can't you just pick one already! We've been here for an hour now!" She yelled at the girl.

"There all drab." She said, monotone.

"How about this dress?" The shop owner asked pleasantly.

"It's drab too." She almost whined.

"Well, you can't go to church in the same dress every Sunday. It looks bad. Drab or not you still need to….."

A split second later, the bloody Kikyo bursts into the shop, which happens to be owned by her father.

"Lock the door! Lock it now!" Kikyo screamed while her father heads to the door. Upon locking the door, he looks through the window and looks around.

"Did you see her! She was right behind me!" Kikyo continued to yell.

"Who baby? Who?" Her father asked.

"The girl! Haven't you been listening to me! She was right behind me! She was following me!"

Kikyo's father walked over to Kagura.

"Could you help me get her into the back room? Please?"

"Yeah. Sure. Of course." Kagura stuttered. They walked over to Kikyo and helped her to the back room where her father led her to a chair.

"Kikyo. Where are you hurt? I can't tell where."

"It's not my blood." She whispered. There was a pause before Kikyo's father asked,

"Whose blood is it?"

"It's Onigumo's. He…. He killed…. Himself." She said quietly before hanging her head and sobbing.

"Oh baby. I'm so sorry." He said before turning to Kagura. "Can you go watch the door? "

"Yeah." She said as she exited the back room. Kikyo's dad then turned his attention to Kagome. "Kagome. Could you stay here with her, please?"

"Sure." She said as he walked away and headed for the phone. Kagome turned to Kikyo and noticed the black book she held in her hands but never questioned Kikyo about it. Kikyo looked around the room frantically, hearing voices and seeing shadows move. Her gaze fell on an open window and she screamed at Kagome to close it. Kagome sprinted to the window, closed and locked it before saying,

"Is everything all right Kikyo?"

"Yeah." She spoke quickly. "Could you just, go get my dad please?"

"Yeah. Hold on." Kagome said before walking out of the room, only to hear the sound of the heavy wood doors close swiftly behind her. "Kikyo! Kikyo! Are you alright?" She inquired loudly as she attempted to open the doors. A moment later, you could hear Kikyo screaming as her father and Kagura rushed to the unmoving doors.

"Kikyo! " Her father screamed, tears threatening to fall from his eyes. He began banging on the doors, his frustration only being fueled by the sound of his daughters screams, until all at once, the screams stopped and the pressure on the doors lifted. Kikyo's father quickly opened the doors and rushed to his daughter's side, instantly taking note of the scissors lodged into her neck, blood everywhere. He fell to the ground in front her and began to weep. Kagome and Kagura entered the room a moment later to see Kikyo's father, almost freeze and then twitch momentarily before continuing to mourn.

Later on, Kagome and Kagura met up with Kagura's boyfriend, Koga, outside the shop. He gave Kagura a hug and looked over her shoulder at Kagome. Kagome noticed this and rolled her eyes, looking away and noticing a boy in the crowd. He was watching the scene closely from behind the yellow, plastic, _do not cross_ rope tied around poles and mailboxes to keep bystanders at bay while the police do their jobs. The sheriff then exited the shop and walked under the rope only to be confronted by the boy. Kagome watched as she tried to make out what the boy and the sheriff were discussing, but alas, she can not read lips. Soon the sheriff walked away, and frustrated, the boy turned his head, only to find himself looking at Kagome. Kagome kept her gaze locked on him before her concentration was broke by Kagura.

" Come on Kagome. We're going home."

" Alright. " She said, turning her head to her mother and following her to Koga's truck.


	3. Too Late

Too Late

"Wow. I can't believe it." Said a brown haired girl who was sitting on top of the hood of a yellow, '94 Honda civic next to Kagome. The brown haired girl was hearing a pair of light blue denim shorts and a light greed tank top with a pair of black flip flops. Her hair was let down and she was leaning back against the windshield sipping on a beer. She finished a sip and passed it to Kagome. "I mean, just think about it. You were there. You were probably the last one to talk to her alive." She said morbidly cheerful. She gently shook her hand that was containing the beer in front of Kagome a few times, silently insisting that Kagome participate in the consumption of alcohol under the legal age.

Kagome just shook her hear no, but the woman wasn't going to accept that answer. "Come one Kagome. Just take one sip." The girl pleaded.

"No Sango. I'm sorry. I have to live with an alcoholic. I'd rather not see myself become one."

"Jesus Kagome. One sip wouldn't kill you. Or turn you into an alcoholic. I Promise."

"Thanks Sango, but, I'll pass. You go ahead and enjoy it though," Kagome spoke with a giggle. The girls sat there in quiet for a moment before Sango spoke up.

"So, how is the witch? I can't believe you managed to get away." Sango voiced was laced with an evil chuckle.

"The same as ever. She's still and alcoholic and she's still a bitch. I didn't even tell her I was leaving. I just did it. It's not like she's my real mother. "Kagome spoke with a sigh. " God! Why did my dad have to leave me with, _that_ thing?" She yelled at the wind. "That woman is awful. I can't wait to get away from her. And Koga. "She spoke his name with a shudder.

"The old perve still eye rapin you, huh?" Sango asked.

"Constantly. Ugh! He'll be making out with Kagura or something minute, and just start in. It's gross."

"It's like his eyes can't get enough of you." Sango joked. Sango and Kagome laughed for a few minutes and then calmed it down to say their goodbyes as they part ways until tomorrow. The sun had started to set, and Kagura demanded that Kagome be home by dark.

Across town, back at the dress shop, Kikyo's father is closing up the shop. He's been there all night cleaning up the blood, haunted by his daughters face and questioning it whether it was his fault or not that she plunged a pair of scissors into her jugular, sobbing at visions of her smiling face that plagued him. He was dead inside. All he could do is stare at the walls in the building. Everything reminded him of his beloved daughter. His only child. His wife had died seven years prior to this, so, he was alone now. "What will I do?" He asked himself.

He had walked over to the front door, stopping by his desk to turn of the radio that was playing some kind of Christian rock and to grab his keys. He finally made his way to the door and turned off the lights. He switched them off, and a ghostly apparition appeared in front of him. He quickly turned the lights on, only to find that nothing was there. "Am I hallucinating?" He wondered. He gazed off into the nothingness for a moment, lost in his thoughts, before snapping back to reality and turning the lights off once more. He watched the blackness to try and find something to be there. Not too long after, the apparition returned once again and this time, sped towards him with lightning fast speed. Kikyo's father didn't have time to react before it had reached him.

**Sunday**

Kagome came down the stairs in a pale blue sundress with white trim and a pair of black flats with her hair in a sideways ponytail, once again with a few, rebellious strands of falling down on the opposite side of her head. She had reached the bottom of the stairs to see her mother ironing her white shirt, from behind an ironing board in the living room watching the news. Her mother was wearing her navy blue skirt and white bra and a pair of beige sandals and had a cigarette hanging out of the corner of her mouth.

"What's this?" Kagome asked pointing to the television. There was an image of Kikyo on the television and a reporting announcing,

"_This is 19 year old Kikyo Tama. Kikyo was found dead in her father's clothing store. Kikyo apparently stabbed herself in the neck with a pair of scissors, but, she had reported to her father that a woman was chasing her. If you have any information concerning the death of Kikyo Tama, please call the number on the screen. Sources, however, claim that Kikyo's death may have been a part of a suicide pact that she may have made with her boyfriend, Onigumo Kumo, who committed suicide earlier that morning. He was found to have shot himself in the head. The gun was found at the scene with his fingerprints on the gun. Miroku is at the scene with some people who have and opinion about the recent occurrences. Miroku._" She said before looking away, before the screen changed to a man with a woman sitting next to him.

"_My name is Miroku Hoshi and I'm standing here with witness and Doctor Kaede Miko. Kaede, what are feelings towards the events that have occurred recently?" _Miroku pointed the microphone in Kaede's direction and she began to speak.

"_Well, I was walking my dog with my grandson, Shippo, and all of a sudden, we hear a loud bang. We looked over that way and we saw that young girl scream and we saw him fall on top of her lap. That poor girl. I use to live in a big city a long time ago, before I moved here, and there was an outbreak of suicides from young teenagers and such. I was eleven at the time, so I was unaffected, however, that summer, nineteen kids committed suicide as part of a suicide pact. It was a sad, sad time."_ Miroku pulled the microphone away from the woman and looked back at the camera.

"_Is Grovetown suffering from a suicide pact? Will there be more deaths? Or is this, just a pact between two lovers who longed for something that they were unable to attain here? This is Miroku Hoshi, Fox News."_

Kagura turned the television off when the doorbell rang. She ran to answer it, still topless and threw her arms around the person at the door. "Ugh! Koga." Kagome winced. She turned around to head upstairs when Kagura stopped her.

" Hey. Kagome. Are you ready? We're about to leave."

" Yeah. Just, waiting for you to put some clothes on." Kagome said venomously.

" What was that?" Kagura said as she buttoned up her shirt.

" Nothing, nothing." As she headed for the door.


	4. Consolation

Consolation

A car drove by the clothing store and parked in front of it. A woman got out and walked up to the door. She knocked several times and hollered, "Uncle! It's me! Midoriko. "After a couple minutes of knocking, she stood on the tip of her toes and grabbed a key from the top of the door frame. She returned to her previous position and continued to unlock the door. She walked in and said loudly, "Uncle." A few times. She walked around the store until she came to the back room that her cousin had killed herself in. She slowly pushed the doors open to find her uncle, hanging by his neck from a rope that was tied to the base of a ceiling fan. She let out a scream and ran out of the room.

At the church.

Koga was sitting in the front row of the church. He was wearing a pair of jeans with cowboy boots and a black collars shirt that was slightly unbuttoned, his dark brown hair was tied into a pony tail. His deep blue eye's watching everything intently. Their church was a massive building. A seat for every person in the town with a titanic stage and gigantic projection screen. Kagome and Kagura were in the front row of the choir, on stage to the left of the projection screen. Soft music is playing when suddenly the pace quickens and the choir sings joyful hymns as the pastor walks across the stage, grinning and waving, everyone's standing and clapping until he reached the podium. The pastor had on a white suite with a dark blue tie and black dress shoes. He had long, pointed ears and long white hair that had been tied up into a pony tail. His golden eye's watched the crowd. The music quiets and the pastor begins to talk into the microphone enthusiastically.

"Good morning everyone and god bless you all. Do you all want to know something? God loves me. God loves me and you and you and you," He said as he pointed to random people in the audience. "And god loves everyone else in this room right now! My, my, my. I can feel the love in this room. This is the kind of love that overcomes evil. And with god on our sides, we can do anything. Regrettably, however, sometimes, we do have people, who might be friends, neighbors, family members, leave us, to join him. Why don't we just, take a moment to bow our heads and send a quick prayer for the two souls we've lost? Alright everyone, bow your heads and close your eyes." The pastor hung his head, closed his eyes and stretched out his hand towards the audience.

"Dear heavenly father, we come to you today to beg you to watch over the souls of Kikyo Tama and Onigumo Kumo as they make their way into your loving arms. We thank you for all of your blessings and for your kindness. In god's name we pray, amen." He spoke quietly into the microphone and when he had finished, cheerful music began to play once more and the pastor walked off stage, smiling and waving once again. He passed the choir and Kagome's eye's followed him. He walked over to a man with long silver hair and dog ears that sat on top of his head. He was wearing a black suite with a burgundy tie and black dress shoes.

"What is wrong with you?" the young man asked his father. "You just, brushed over the suicides like they were nothing."

"I didn't want to linger on that subject. The people are already sad enough. I gave them what they needed." He said swiftly in his defense, all the while Kagome is watching the scene.

"This town needs the truth, not words from a prayer card." He spoke angrily as he stormed off.

"Wait! Inuyasha!" He yelled for his son to stop.

After church had ended, Kagome was standing with Kagura and Koga as they said their goodbye's to friends and gossiped lightly. Kagome was soon approached by Inuyasha.

"Hey Kagome. How are you holding up?"

"I'm alright I guess. It's kind of hard to get her face out of my head now."

"I'm sure it is. Would you like me to come over tonight? I can help consol you." He asked with a smirk.

"Of course you can come over. How about seven?"

"Seven it is. I'll see you tonight. Oh! Hey. Before I forget, my father and I were talking and we'd like you to come work at the church again. You don't have to answer right now, just, say that you'll think about it."

"Alright. I'll think about it." Kagome replied with a giggle. Kagome waved at him as she walked towards Koga's truck. She got in and her step mother was talking to Koga about Mr. Tama.

"Mr. Tama wasn't at church today. I figured this would be the placed he wants to be the most."

"Naw." Koga said roughly. "It's like I said, he's out chasing down the bastard who murdered his daughter." He said before putting the truck in drive and heading back towards the house. Kagome just sighed. She looked at her step mother and then at Koga who seems to be constantly undressing her in his mind. She rolled her eyes and gagged before turning to the window. Kagome saw a boy ride by on his bike. A moment later they passed him and Kagome noticed that he was hauling it to wherever his destination was. They were about to turn the corner when a cop car came speeding up behind them. Koga pulled over and began whining about how 'he had hadn't done anything' and 'what was it this time.', as he pulled over to the curb and stopped. When the cop car flew past them, Koga put the truck in drive and quickly began to follow.

They arrived that the clothing shop and saw crowds of people standing behind _do no cross_ rope and chattering amongst themselves while cops entered the store and exited. A few were carrying a body on a gurney and the sheriff was talking to Midoriko. Koga looked at the women and said tyrannically, "Stay in this car. Don't leave. I'll be right back." And with that he was gone. He walked over to his friend Hakudoshi and asked, "What happened this time?"

"Mr. Tama, he hung himself last night. His niece over there found him this morning." Midoriko was talking to the sheriff when she began to look at the mass of people who had accumulated outside when she saw someone who looked an awful lot like her. She ignored the idea and returned her attention to the sheriff.

"That poor man. So distraught from his daughter's death that he killed himself too." Koga then walked back over to the truck and said quietly, "Mr. Tama is dead." He then pulled out of the parking lot and headed back to Kagura's house in silence.

Koga walked Kagura and Kagome to the door and said goodbye. Kagura went into the kitchen and Kagome went to her room upstairs. Kagome arrived at her door threw it open and flung herself on her bed. She laid there thinking about everything when her mind wandered to the boy she had seen. He looked familiar, but, she didn't recognize him. A little while later, Kagome had fallen asleep on her bed. Kagura went upstairs to get her for supper, only to find her asleep so she turned around and went back downstairs.


End file.
